BlackBerry Z10 on T-Mobile to Cost $99 Down

Not only did we learn today that the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 are coming to T-Mobile soon, but the BlackBerry Z10 is also on its way. The 4th-place carrier will cost you a down payment of $99.99, along with monthly payments of $18 thereafter for 24 months; a total of $531.99. You can also spend the $531.99 at checkout and own the phone outright.

T-Mobile recently adopted a down and monthly payment combo in favor of the heavily subsidized, contract-based business model that’s so prevalent in the current wireless world. T-Mobile CEO John Legere celebrated the departure from the subsidized phone model by saying, “If you come to T-Mobile, you have signed your last contract.”However, there seem to have been some changes on T-Mobile’s site leading up to this announcement. A quick simple search of T-Mobile.com revealed what we can only assume was a preliminary price of $16.67 per month for the BlackBerry Z10, which would have led to a 2-year device cost of just $400.01. But when we clicked to buy this deal, we were sent back to a page with the final $18 per month cost.

Assuming a minimum data plan of 2GB with unlimited talk and texting, T-Mobile customers will pay an additional fee of $60 per month for the Z10. Adding it all together for a full 2-year cost of $1,971. For T-Mobile, the Z10 is a big deal because it’s one of the first devices to support the carrier’s new 4G LTE network. Plus, this is the only Z10 you can get with unlimited data. But if you get the unlimited data plan, the overall price goes up to $2,211.

Is that worth it for this device’s impressive multitasking capabilities, convenient BlackBerry Hub universal inbox, best-in-class touch-screen keyboard and video chat support for BBM? Only you can tell, but if you do think so, keep in mind you’ll have to wait until T-Mobile’s LTE service hits your area to take full advantage of the device.